India has described as a “travesty of justice” a Pakistan Supreme Court order Thursday acquitting Pakistan’s British-born al-Qaeda militant Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, the prime accused in the abduction and beheading of American journalist Daniel Pearl in 2002 in Karachi.
“This case truly demonstrates Pakistan’s intent on taking action on the terror front. It is a travesty of justice not to find Omar Saeed guilty of any charges in this heinous act of terror,” said Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Anurag Srivastava, when asked about the court verdict.
He added: “Our position on Pakistan taking sustained, verifiable, credible and irreversible action against terrorism and terrorist funding emanating from all territory under its control remain unchanged.”
Sheikh was convicted of helping lure Pearl, then the South Asia Bureau of the Wall Street Journal, to a meeting in the southern Pakistani port city of Karachi, during which he was kidnapped. He had been on death row since his conviction in Pearl’s death and is currently lodged in a Karachi prison.
